City officials and activists ripped into the city Wednesday for how it handled the Hudson River sewage spill last week — saying New Yorkers weren't properly notified of unsafe waters following a fire at a waste water treatment facility in Harlem.

Reverend Earl Koopercamp, the rector at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on West 126th Street, said he saw no warning signs at Harlem Piers on the Hudson River, where he spotted fishermen continuing to fish after the spill. "I saw a Parks worker, and I said, 'How come there's no signs?'" Koopercamp said. "He says, 'Signs? Why?' I said, 'They're pouring sewage in the river.'"

State Sen. Espaillat Blasts City For Slow Notification After Massive Sewage Dump In Hudson River

BY ALEX KATZ

July 27

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and dozens of environmental activists blasted the city today for waiting too long to notify local residents about millions of gallons of sewage dumped into the Hudson after a major fire in a treatment plant last week.

For about four hours now, rank-and-file lawmakers have just been milling around and waiting while backroom negotiations continue on the major bills at the end of the legislative session. Activists on either side of the same-sex marriage issue have been shooed out of the State Senate chamber but have taken to shouting at legislators from behind the glass doors. In general, aggravation is rising.

“You walk the hallways and I’ve been here 14 years and I haven’t seen the levels of anxiety and passion,” Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) said, “and frankly, it’s very scary.”

Senators Mike Gianaris, Liz Krueger, and Adriano Espaillat (who all have been tweeting up a storm trying to make several hashtags trend) held a press conference this morning to blast the lack of progress at the capitol.

“Unfortunately we have been here all week when were just supposed to be here on Monday. There are important issues to decide. We stand as a conference on the Democratic side ready to vote on all the issues of the day that have been outstanding all week. We cannot understand what the hold up is,” Gianaris said. ”

State Lawmakers Head Back To Capitol; Same-Sex Marriage, Rent Regulations Await

By NY1 News

The waiting game continues in Albany this afternoon as several pieces of pressing legislation, including rent regulations and a possible vote on same-sex marriage, remain up in the air.

The State Senate adjourned just before 11 p.m. yesterday following a marathon session...

..."We should give New Yorkers closure on this. There should be an answer on marriage. Five extenders on rent and last night they didn't even bring up an extender. Quietly in the middle of the night, with troopers in the galleries and people passionate on both sides, they quietly scooted out of the chambers," said State Senator Adriano Espaillat.

These days a walk in the park is no walk in the park for residents of northern Manhattan, especially women.

In what seems like a throwback to the bad old days, violent crime has made a comeback, spreading fear in the Washington Heights and Inwood communities.

Three sexual assaults took place in as many days in the area, last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Two of the women were attacked in the Bennett Ave. area, a short distance from the 34th Precinct stationhouse. The third was assaulted in Inwood Hill Park, where three other women have also been victims of sexual predators in the last 16 months.

Residents are rightfully alarmed and, along with elected officials, have mobilized to combat this crime wave in which women have become the targets of choice. They are calling on the NYPD to do whatever it takes to restore safety to their community.

"We will not simply sit back and watch crime return to northern Manhattan," said state Senator Adriano Espaillat.

Bodegas and stores that sell a sweetened alcoholic beverage known as "nutcrackers" to underage customers could soon face tough penalties --including fines and jail time.

The so-called "Nutcracker Bill," which unanimously passed a vote in the New York State Senate on Monday, comes after investigators found that barbershops and small grocery stores around the five boroughs had been selling the mixed drinks to minors.

The drinks are generally made of hard liquor, like vodka or rum, and highly sweetened juice or Kool-Aid. The beverages seem to be especially targeted to teens because they are cheap and sugary.

Bodegas and stores that sell a sweetened alcoholic beverage known as "nutcrackers" to underage customers could soon face tough penalties --including fines and jail time.

The so-called "Nutcracker Bill," which unanimously passed a vote in the New York State Senate on Monday, comes after investigators found that barbershops and small grocery stores around the five boroughs had been selling the mixed drinks to minors.

The drinks are generally made of hard liquor, like vodka or rum, and highly sweetened juice or Kool-Aid. The beverages seem to be especially targeted to teens because they are cheap and sugary.

With the summer heat starting to settle in, thirsty minors looking for a buzz are once again turning their attention to Nutcrackers—a sweet homemade cocktail illegally sold to legal and underage drinkers on the street, in bodegas and in barbershops—much to the chagrin of lawmakers and police. And Albany will not let that stand. Yesterday the State Senate passed a so-called "Nutcracker Bill" that will greatly increase the punishments for Nutcracker peddlers, assuming it passes in the Assembly.

Santiago de los Caballeros is the Dominican Republic’s “second-city” and it was here that a soon-to-be seven-year-old boy named Adriano Espaillat learned that Trujillo had died. Looking back, Espaillat, now a New York State Senator, still remembers the planes that would fly over his town dropping propaganda leaflets extolling Trujillo.

While we’re waiting for the Senate GOP to emerge from behind closed doors or send up some smoke signals on same-sex marriage, (we’re almost at the three-hour mark here), the fight over extending and/or strengthening the rent laws, which are set to expire at midnight, is continuing.

Lawmakers accused Republicans of trying the same move this year. “This is an end-around to try to skip town,” said Senator Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan, the senior Democrat on the Senate housing committee. “We’ve seen it before. We’re not going to be fooled by it. We know what it is. It’s a cheap trick.”

Minority state lawmakers have made no secret of the fact they consider rent regulation a defining issue in their relationship with Gov. Cuomo.

Our Glenn Blain reports:

Gov. Cuomo’s move today to launch robocalls pushing for stronger rent laws has earned him support from one key member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus – state Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

UPPER MANHATTAN —Businesses selling fruity alcohol drinks to minors are facing stiffer fines and longer jail sentences after an Upper Manhattan-led crackdown. State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who represents Washington Heights and Inwood, sponsored a New York State Senate bill which seeks to crack down on the fruity booze, known as "nutcrackers."

It was passed Monday. "Study after study has demonstrated that alcohol and minors simply do not mix," Sen. Espaillat said in a press release.